Good Samaritan Killed in Highway Hit-and-Run After Stopping Car to Help Stranded Vehicle

A Florida man who stopped to help a stranded car was then hit and killed as he returned to his own vehicle, which was then stolen by the individual who struck him, authorities said.

Dhimitri Andoni, 22, stopped his 2015 Hyundai on the side of Interstate 275 in St. Petersburg Thursday after noticing another car careen off the highway and onto the median, Florida Highway Patrol spokesman Steve Gaskins told The Washington Post.

Andoni helped the people in the other car, who drove off, according to a police report obtained by NBC News. As he was walking back to his own car, however, he was fatally struck by a 1996 Ford F-150, according to authorities.

The man allegedly driving that car, Dana Thomas Byrd, 30, got out and saw Andoni had been killed, the police report states. Byrd then allegedly stole the Hyundai, abandoning his own truck. Andoni's body was left on the side of the highway.

"Byrd stopped after the impact happened,” Gaskins told The Washington Post. “He figures out that [Andoni is] dead, gets into his car and drives off. It couldn’t be any more of a weird situation than that."

Andoni was not found until Friday afternoon, after his father reported his son missing.

Byrd was arrested Friday and charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death and grand theft motor vehicle, Pinellas County Sheriff's Office records show. He is being held on $105,000 bail. He has not yet entered a plea.